The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas: Swindling Slaver Monroe Edwards

After Monroe Edwards died in Sing Sing prison in 1847, penny dreadfuls memorialized him as the most celebrated American forger until the turn of the century. With a bizarre biography too complicated for easy history, his critical contributions to Texas settlement, revolution and annexation were inextricably mired in his activities as a slave smuggler and confidence man. Author Lora-Marie Bernard unravels the unbelievable story of one of the most notorious criminal adventurers ever to set foot on the soil of the Lone Star State.

Lora-Marie Bernard is an award-winning crime, public affairs and investigative journalist whose Texas nonfiction focuses on the state’s resources and historical figures. Also the author of Lower Brazos River Canals with Arcadia Publishing, she lives in the NASA community of Clear Lake City in Houston.